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The opportunity to rescue (7)
Higher education
Philosophy of existence and method of development
Universities are built on two axes: one moves from focusing on direct existence (welfare needs) to the new reality (the call to search for truth) and the other moves from opposition (critical aspect) to approval (commitment aspect) and the institution’s contribution to social productivity. (Efforts to achieve consistency between these functions always lead to a search for unity of purpose as is evident in the word uni-versitas itself.
The process of modernization is the function assigned to universities in all societies. In order for us to define modernity and understand its implications leading to social change and scientific development, universities, as necessary institutions for the nation and a building block for cultural development, must multiply, spread, develop, and undergo mutations to keep pace with the future, and the best of them will remain. Isn’t that a characteristic of all ideas in contemporary human history!!
Universities must survey the environment in which they arise and realize the complexities of potential change, which means academic freedom. They must set their vision for their commitments to this transformation and determine how to use their assets in the best possible ways, which means institutional independence. In practice, the above means determining strategies that lead to the development of institutional policies that can be tested, measured, and verified, and this imposes accountability.
What are the purposes? What is expected from higher education in any nation? What do we ask of it and for it? It may seem to us that things are clear in everyone’s minds, while they are not even in the minds of some specialists. The easiest of these imagined images is what occurs in the conscience of parents and students in Egypt. They see a graduate of higher education as having a better social status and that his degree qualifies its holder for this status. They see higher education as more advanced than other types of education. There is even a psychological division within it, as they see a university graduate as more advanced than an institute graduate and an institute graduate as more advanced than a technical education graduate, and so on. These families also see that the state throughout its modern history has required a higher education certificate for appointment to its important positions, and that this education qualifies its students to fill positions, especially if they are excellent higher education certificates, which are represented by the top colleges, as society calls them. Or that the certificate itself is a social passport regardless of the knowledge or skills that must be acquired from this education, and I cannot deny these images in the minds of their owners, because they are derived from the reality in which they live, and their repeated experiences during it.
Some think that education must meet the temporary needs of the market, which is a limited and narrow-minded perception because higher education has many other benefits, which are gathered in being the locomotive of development in any society.. It is an education that does not come as a reaction to the state of the labor market, or unemployment rates or the state of a profession at a specific time.. But it is this type of education that draws the features of the future, and builds people capable of creating development and not filling the void of needs.. Just as it builds people who create and realize opportunities and not just those who benefit from them.
Few intellectuals see the enlightening role of universities and higher education institutions and ask a fundamental question:
Are those in charge of universities merely educational service providers or builders of modernity and makers Civilization?
And are they being prepared with this philosophy!!
I propose ten specific policies, stemming from Egypt’s Vision 2030, to develop higher education and I propose the philosophy of the existence of universities and their functions so that policies are consistent with the philosophy of their establishment.
It is assumed that everywhere the university tries to meet four philosophical goals (the state is unfortunately moving towards canceling philosophy and logic in secondary education), namely: welfare; order; meaning; and truth. Hence, these goals together represent: the philosophy of establishing and existing these universities.
The university focuses on the welfare of society by preparing its students for constructive integration within society through acquiring knowledge and skills that constitute a tool for achieving progress and development, or by developing its research and innovation field to enhance the economic strength of the nation.
The goal is to meet social needs effectively and economically. Therefore, the utilitarian goal of investments directed by governments and stakeholders to their universities becomes justified. There is a tangible and measurable return for everyone.
As for the social system, the university helps society to become a “harmonious society” in which different groups exchange references and make science, knowledge and technical skills appropriate and suitable. This requires developing skills and areas of knowledge related to civil integration and using them in teaching and adapting them to current social needs.
Higher education also determines the “qualifications” of people and higher education certificates and postgraduate studies of various types become a passport for these people to prestigious positions with appropriate salaries found on the different levels of the social ladder. Universities are the most important source for organizing higher qualifications.
In the issue of concern, the university addresses the axioms of life as society knows them and examines different points of view on all issues, old and new, and reconsiders stable and accepted intellectual references, and reorganizes data according to new standards, whether intellectual, moral or aesthetic. Enriching the meaning lies in comprehensive and complete familiarity with these different knowledges and viewpoints, questioning assumptions, and reorganizing the world as we know it in light of that. This results in the university’s ability to point to possible reforms in society, which is the basis for any civilizational shift undertaken by nations.
When the university addresses the issue of searching for the truth, it explores the unknown as the natural system of which humanity is a part. The goal of this is not only to try to demolish the walls of ignorance, but also to deeply question the extent of man’s understanding of the universe around him and the constants that their ancestors believed in at a time other than their time. The stages of this effort meet with the method of scientific reasoning that universities must adopt in studying the various sciences, which includes skepticism, imagination, and comprehension. This is a process that is sometimes fraught with risks, as it may lead us to error and failure. These are matters that science accepts as long as they are done using the method of scientific reasoning and proof. However, the search for the truth remains a basic entry point to the university’s function.
As for the ten development policies as stated in Egypt’s Vision 2030, I summarize them as follows:
First: Reformulating the state’s responsibilities towards the higher education system, its universities and institutes. The Ministry of Higher Education is not the service provider here, but the organizer and guarantor of justice, and must allow academic freedom and financial independence (regulator vs. controller).
Second: Expand higher education systems to meet the needs of new students according to a specific and declared vision that includes technical education and vocational training.
Third: Radically reorganize educational institutions with the aim of improving quality and reaching the global levels that we choose.
Fourth: Develop a diverse and flexible system that is consistent with development needs and is connected to and open to international movements concerned with improving and modernizing global and local teaching and research methods.
Fifth: Conduct a massive and integrated move as a basis for establishing scientific research and its activities as a vital component in higher education institutions and providing the necessary funding for it with the aim of becoming a basic funder of educational institutions within the next five years.
Sixth: Support the development of a dynamic relationship between higher education institutions and the current and future Egyptian, Arab and European labor market and link government funding for universities to their ability to do so.
Seventh: Commitment to integrity Academic and institutional, and to consolidate this in the message of every educational institution to reflect the values of honesty, accountability, responsibility and accuracy as basic values, in addition to respecting academic integrity and freedom, in addition to respecting equal opportunities and pluralism. Eighth: Integrating technology and digital culture into the conscience of students and faculty members with a clear priority that does not allow for retreat, and working to expand interactive distance learning and blended learning. It is necessary to allow the establishment of specialized and independent institutions for distance education and to expand them within the framework of global quality guarantees.
Ninth: Governance of the management of higher education institutions, and the efficiency of their organization, which is a recurring goal in the vision of the country’s future, and it is necessary to gradually return to choosing administrative leaders for universities through an electoral system from faculty members.
Tenth: Developing a positive climate in higher education institutions by practicing sports, arts, teamwork, and communicating with society to build a normal person who possesses the skills of the twenty-first century and is a global competitor.
* In the next article, I will continue to present the foundations of availability and quality, as well as the role of the private sector in higher education, clearly explaining the fact that higher education is a right for young people as long as they can achieve its standards, and no one should be deprived of it due to poverty or financial needs
